Never judging books by their cover

The Perfect Victim By Corrie Jackson

by Bronagh on November 21, 2017

‘The Perfect Victim’ is the second book in the Sophie Kent series.

Charlie and Emily Swift are the Instagram-perfect couple: gorgeous, successful and in love. But then Charlie is named as the prime suspect in a gruesome murder and Emily’s world falls apart. Desperate for answers, she turns to Charlie’s troubled best friend, London Herald journalist, Sophie Kent. Sophie knows police have the wrong man – she trusts Charlie with her life. Then Charlie flees. Sophie puts her reputation on the line to clear his name. But as she’s drawn deeper into Charlie and Emily’s unravelling marriage, she realises that there is nothing perfect about the Swifts. As she begins to question Charlie’s innocence, something happens that blows the investigation – and their friendship – apart. Now Sophie isn’t just fighting for justice, she’s fighting for her life.

I started reading this book one evening and was unable to put it down until the I reached the final page.

The story is quirkily written with an inquisitive and passionate lead character, who isn’t happy unless her life is at stake and she’s got a good news story.

Sophie Kent is a driven young journalist, who’s determined to prove her colleague and friend’s innocence when he is suspected of murdering a solicitor, Sophie believes there’s a lot more going on, than people are letting on and particularly finds Charlie’s wife, Emily a person of interest. Emily and Charlie had a whirlwind romance, the perfect couple on social media, but when new revelations come to light, the couple are seen to be far from perfect.

Sophie is quite a complex and troubled character, she puts on a hard act pushing herself to limits, but all the while she is dealing with the death of little brother Tommy. She doesn’t believe that he committed suicide and fears something a lot more sinister is at place and finds herself embroiled in a cult, whilst trying to find Charlie as well as piece Tommy’s last dying moments together. But just as Sophie gets closer to discovering the truth, her life and those around her are put into danger.

The story is fast paced with each chapter ending on a hook, making it difficult to put down. The characters are interesting and well written and with the chapters flowing between past and present tense, it really sets the scene in this quite bleak thriller.

As well as the seeing the story through Sophie’s narrative, we also see the perspective from Emily’s eyes, as her perfect life unravels before her eyes. I thought it was quite clever to add another voice to the story, adding another layer to the thriller.

This book is the second in the Sophie Kent series and although I haven’t read the first book in the series, I thought this book gave plenty of background information, so I wasn’t lost in the plot.

Packed with great characters, particularly the ballsy lead with a great plot and strong dialogue, ‘The Perfect Victim’ is a twisty tale that I genuinely enjoyed.